Starting Over

Thank you to those of you who have taken the time to review this story so far.

All canon characters belong to JKR.

Thank you to June for her help and suggestions, especially with the description of the new bedroom.

Chapter 17 – Starting Over

After Hermione destroyed the bedroom in which she'd been raped by Voldemort while he was still in Severus' body, she and Severus went to the living room and sat on the couch in front of the fire. Hermione cried for several minutes as Severus held her trembling body.

When she finished crying, they sat in silence until Dari appeared in the hallway and announced that she'd prepared an early supper for them. As they followed her, the house-elf led them past the dining room, causing them to wonder where they were going to eat.

They discovered the clever elf had set a small table outside. The air was cool and the sky was now glowing orange and red as the sun danced on the horizon. Severus guided Hermione to her chair and sat across from her. The witch's eyes were red and swollen from crying. She looked at Severus from across the table and smiled.

"I feel like a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders," she said quietly. "Thank you, Severus, for allowing me that."

"You could have burned this entire house down if it would have made you feel better," said Severus as he reached across the table and took her hand. "I meant what I said back at Hogwarts, Hermione. I do love you." He raised her hand and gently placed a kiss on her palm.

Hermione felt a slight warmth inside of her when she looked at him, but still she wondered if she would ever again feel joy, happiness, or deep love. Suddenly, she wasn't very hungry. Standing up, she walked towards him. When she was close enough to him, she bent down and tentatively kissed his lips.

Severus remained still, not wanting to scare her away by doing what he really wanted, which was to wrap his arms around her waist and carry her into the house.

Hermione lifted her head and smiled. "I'm not very hungry. Are you?"

He smirked and stood. "Not for food."

Severus took her hand and they walked back into the house.

Dari noticed them and smiled. She cast a warming spell on the food and brought it inside the kitchen. She knew they would come looking for food eventually. It was more important for the couple to put the pieces of their relationship back together.

When Severus and Hermione reached the top of the stairs, they noticed that the door of the bedroom looked different. Severus opened it and noticed it wasn't the same room. When Hermione looked in from the hallway she realized it was the guest room.

"What did Dari do?" she wondered aloud.

Severus turned to her, then looked down the hall and smiled. He took her hand wordlessly and lead her to the new door that he surmised was for the new master bedroom.

When he opened the door the room was empty. It was larger than before, or at least looked to be larger.

"There's nothing here," Hermione said as she entered and looked around the room. When she looked to Severus he already had his wand out.

"Shall we begin then?" he asked.

Hermione took out her own wand and nodded.

Much as she recalled his first year speech about "foolish wand waving," she had to admit the man could do wonders with his wand. Then she giggled to herself.

Severus turned his head and looked at her.

"And what has you giggling like a school-girl?" he asked.

"Well, you seem to be very handy with your wand."

He smirked. "Yes, I am, in more ways than one."

They continued in their shared task. They changed the dimensions of the room as well as its shape. Instead of a simple square room, the door to the now T-shaped room opened to a large rectangular sitting area (the horizontal bar of the T) with a fireplace in the middle. The sleeping area was in a square portion (the vertical bar of the T) that jutted out from the sitting area; this housed a large four-poster bed with a canopy. The walls had two windows, one on either side of the bed connected in the middle. Next to the sleeping area was a round bathroom, equipped with a tub built up against the round wall and a shower next to it. Both the tub and shower had one large window allowing bright light to come through, but high enough to allow privacy. The two-sink vanity followed the wall of the shower and there was a hidden room, which held the toilet. The ceiling was open and allowed views of the beams, just like in old castles.

The colors ranged from sage green to burgundy, to burnt oranges and dark silver. Hermione was pleased. It looked nothing like the old bedroom; there would be no bad memories here. As she stood at the edge of the rug which was part of the sitting area she looked at the fireplace. With her wand she created a small fire. She jumped slightly when she felt two arms wrap around her waist.

"It all looks perfect," said Severus. At first he felt her stiffen, but then she placed her hands on his. He closed his eyes and inhaled the scent of her hair. Severus could smell the light fragrance of patchouli rolling deep within her curls. He loved that she didn't use flowery scents, and he briefly thought brewing a perfume especially for her.

"How lovely you are, Hermione," he breathed.

Hermione leaned her head back against his shoulder and sighed. She turned and looked up into his dark eyes. There was life in them; there was warmth and compassion.

"How could I have ever thought that it was you at that moment?" she whispered as she caressed his cheek with her hand. She then kissed him eagerly, wanting to feel his lips against hers, feeling the need to now incinerate the memory of that night when she thought Severus raped her.

Hermione knew that Severus had been waiting for her to initiate what would happen next. He wasn't completely sure how he should proceed with their relationship or if she would want to be intimate with him once again, but he hoped that what they had done since returning to Spinner's End helped her expel some of the demons inside of her.

Knowing the wizard was allowing her to set the pace she let go of him and walked past him, brushing her shoulder against his slightly, but never taking her eyes off of his. She turned and walked backwards until she felt the mattress touching the back of her knees. Smiling, she began to unbutton her blouse slowly. Severus mirrored her movements and began to unbutton his own shirt. Hermione kicked off her shoes, he kicked off her shoes. She untied her skirt, he unbuttoned his slacks. Only when they both stood in front of one another in their undergarments, did Severus approach her.

"Stay with me here," he said quietly as he delicately cupped her face with his hands.

Hermione kissed his soft lips and eased herself onto the bed, taking him with her.

"I will stay wherever you want me." She laid herself down and looked up at him. "I do love you, Severus."

Severus lowered himself on top of her as she lifted one leg and pulled him closer to her. He opened the front clasp of her bra and licked her nipple as he caressed her other breast with his hand. Hermione arched her back and pulled his head closer to her.

As Severus sucked moved from one nipple to the other he allowed his hand to travel down her stomach and rested it on her mound. His thumb began to form circles around her nub as his fingers made their way past her now sensitive lips. Feeling her wetness increasing around his fingers, Severus lifted his head from her breast and looked at Hermione. Her head was flung back and a look of pleasure was etched on her face.

"I need to be inside of you, Hermione," he groaned, not realizing he'd said the words out loud.

Hermione opened her eyes and lifted her head. Her hands traveled down his back and felt his boxers. She pushed them down and gently took hold of his erection.

Severus gasped, and settled himself firmly between her legs. Allowing Hermione to place him at her entrance, he then thrust himself into her. For a moment she stiffened. Thinking he'd hurt her yet again, he held still. It was only when she wrapped her legs around his waist and smiled up at him that he allowed himself to move and breathe once more.

They moved together, finding a rhythm they were both able to enjoy. Not too fast and not too slow, as they both wanted to enjoy the feel of each other's body again.

"I thought I'd lost you, Severus." said Hermione breathlessly as she now thought back on what had happened in the Potions classroom. Had Voldemort not left Severus' body when he did, she would have finished saying words and performed the Killing Curse to its full potential.

"But you didn't, and I am here with you, Hermione." Severus continued his slow thrusts, which very quickly became more and more hurried.

Hermione could feel her impending orgasm and began working her inner muscles to stimulate Severus.

"Yes," groaned Severus as he began to move faster and faster. He positioned his pelvis so that he rubbed against her clit.

She dug her nails into his back, her body now responding more and more to his movements.

"Oh, Severus, oh my God, please." Hermione's breathing began to increase; she looked into Severus' eyes, wanting to feel their connection in more than just a physical way.

"Please what?" Severus held her gaze. "What, Hermione?"

"Tell me you love me. I need to hear it, please."

"I do love you," said Severus as they both began to reach their climax together. "I love you, I love you," he chanted as he felt her inner muscles milking him. Severus buried his head in her neck, while still professing his love to her. Hermione heard his words in her mind over and over again, like a distant song carried by the wind.

They lay together for several moments, until Severus turned them both so that they were on their side facing each other. He kissed her tenderly then held her firmly against him while he rubbed her back. Hermione seemed to purr when he did so, which made him chuckle.

"What?" she asked.

"You're like a little kitten, purring away."

"Hmm..." Hermione ran her fingers across the scratches she had just put on his back. "You might not be so kind with your words when you see these scratches on your back."

He threw his head back and laughed loudly now. "Purring AND scratching? I wonder if I could get you to lick milk off of me." He wiggled his eyebrows, as she swatted him on the shoulder and laughed.

"Oh, you pig," she said playfully.

They lounged in bed for another hour, Severus getting Hermione to agree to move into not only his home but his rooms back at Hogwarts. It was mutually decided that they would live together before they moved forward further with their relationship, both wanting to make sure they could live with each other before making things permanent.

After hearing Hermione's stomach protest for a few moments, Severus put on his robe and went downstairs. He asked Dari to set up a small table in front of the fireplace in the master bedroom for their late supper. Once she did so, Severus thanked her and gave her leave, and she went back to Malfoy Manor.

~*~*~

Lucius was in the kitchen getting Ginny some warm milk when Dari popped in behind him.

"Master, I have returned."

Lucius turned and smiled. "Well, how did everything go?" he asked hopefully.

Dari jumped up and down in excitement. "Master, you should have seen their faces. I think they were very happy. The mistress was sad at first. She destroyed one of the rooms, sir."

Lucius' eyes went wide. He knew Hermione had a temper, but he didn't realize it was that bad.

"But I fixed things. I gave them a new room to make their own. Very different, not at all like the old room. They worked on it together. I think they will be happy. And sir, they used the new bed!"

"Splendid," said Lucius as he walked out of the kitchen. He knew Ginny would be thrilled to know that Hermione and Severus had made amends.

~*~*~

Back at Hogwarts, Hagrid was in his small hut, dipping gnome-Voldemort into a bucket of warm water and scrubbing him from head-to-toe.

"Stop scrubbing so hard!" yelled the gnome.

"Quite complaining, I've just about got the dung out of your beard."

After his trek into the bowels of Red Feathers the Hippogriff, Hagrid had him extract Thestral semen from two of the males in the herd that he kept near the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

"You aren't serious?" Voldemort had complained as he stared at the Thestral penis in front of him, "You can't tell me that this can't be done magically."

"Oh no, magic would take some of the potency," Hagrid said simply. "We sell the semen to the Apothecary in Hogsmeade. They make facial cream out of it."

Once the gnome was clean enough, Hagrid notified Albus, who came back to Hagrid's hut to collect the gnome. While they walked back to the castle, Albus informed Voldemort that he would be assisting Mr. Filch with some chores the next day.

"Anything has to be better than working with that crazy bastard," mumbled Voldemort.

"Come now, Hagrid couldn't have been so difficult to work with."

"It was disgusting. First he shoved me up that pregnant Hippogriff's anus, and then he had me wanking off the Thestrals so he could sell their semen to the Apothecary!"

"Whatever for?" asked Albus, now curious.

Voldemort looked at Albus as though he was the stupidest wizard on earth. "As an ingredient for facial cream of course."

"Tom, there is no such ingredient in any facial cream made," laughed Albus, not being able to control himself.

"Noooooooooooo!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I hope you enjoyd this chapter. I'm winding things down here. The next chapter will most likely be the epilogue.